The Meaning of the Lighthouse in Satanism

Got this search and thought I’d try to give an answer.

Satanism is mainly an opposite of Christianity. It holds a lot of beliefs that are equal to and stolen from Christianity but reversed. The bible speaks of being kind to your fellow man, while satanism emphasizes individualism. Satanism is most coherently defined within Anton Lavey’s religious movement the Church of Satan. I didn’t find a specific mention of the lighthouse when searching the web but a book called Die Satanischen Rituale (the Satanic rituals) had a picture of a satanic-looking lighthouse on the cover. This is some of the mentions I’ve found:

“This online manifestation is created in the dark spirit of that store, which contained the Lighthouse Effect / The Command to Look amidst the mediocre edifices surrounding it, looming as a gaping hellmouth amidst the commoners.” -some satanic store keeper

And from a Satanic dictionary:

“The Lighthouse Effect: 1. The Process by which an object, person, structure, image, or sound stands apart in an environment, as in the influence a Dominant Mass has on its surroundings.

2. Objects, images, people, or edifices which inspire either compassion, lust, or fear.

3. What activates The Command To Look.

Examples

1. A lone instrument sounds amidst frenetic noise.

2. A Person who stands out in a crowd by virtue of their very presence, &/or attire.

3. A house or building which looms ominously amidst & apart from common domiciles.

4. An automobile which stands apart from the common commercialized models.

5. A natural formation that dominates its surroundings.

Definition derived from the solitary vigilance of the lighthouse.”

So, I’d say that the lighthouse in Satanism is used just like the lighthouse in Christianity and western culture – it’s a beacon of hope, truth, enlightenment – the difference being that the truth is not God’s truth, but Satan’s truth. (Dunno if Dominant Mass with capital letters refers to a Satanic metaphysical substance).

5 Responses to “The Meaning of the Lighthouse in Satanism”

Satanism is not reversed Christianity,that is devil worship. Satanist are atheists ,we don’t believe in God or Satan. Satan is only a symbol to us.
We do not borrow from Christianity or reverse it’s doctrine.We have our own Dark Doctrine of Entropy which is nothing like reversed Christianity.

There are two kinds of satanist,the LeVayan’s ie atheistic satanist and then you have theistic satanists who do believe in a deity/deities but usually not in the biblical version of Satan or the devil.
Theistic satanists usually follow the Egyptian god of Chaos ,Set or Eniki,etc.Some use the Pagans gods,Pan,Cerrenunos ,Hermes and the goddess Lilith,to name a few.
Devil worshipers are the reversed Christians,they believe in and worship the biblical Satan and reverse Christian doctrine. Most devil worshipers,although they call themselves satanists are not accepted by the majority of postmodern satanists.
I hop this clears things up for you and I respectfully request,you revise your blog to reflect the truth about satanism.
Thank you.

One more thing,The Satanic Bible and The Satanic Rituals are two separate books.
The Satanic Bible was written first and is a guidebook for new satanists.
The Satanic Rituals are exactly what the title proclaims it to be;a book of satanic rituals.
There is a lot of symbolism in satanism,to read TSR and not fully understand the symbolism in it will lead to much misunderstanding.
The light house portion you got correct ,though,I’ll give you that.
But,satanism is NOT a negative philosophy,it’s very positive and very real.
I don’t mean too beat you up over this,I just wish you had taken the time to portray us in a more positive light.

I thought I was being kinda neutral, I don’t see Satanism as a negative and I don’t see Christianity as a positive.

I think Satanism deserves being called a reversal of Christianity, because it was created as a reaction to it (unlike a reversal of Shivaism or something). You say yourself that Satan is a meaningful symbol to you and if Christianity had not existed you could not have said that, then you’d have to invent a different symbol unconnected to Christianity. But of course, everyone who calls themselves postmodern satanists will not care for all the threads of origin of their ism that much.

My impression when reading on the website for Lavey’s church was that they were mainly agnostic (and Set, Hermes et cetera can be paralleled to Buddha being agnostic and yet Buddhism full of deities) but that there was an element of metaphysicality, a dark energy, an inverse altruistic love, that permeated the universe, which to me is not really atheism. Sure, it’s not a personal God but it’s still a supernatural force, just like “impersonal” God-forces in some people’s interpretation of Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Hinduism and other religions. Some Christians believe that God is not a personal God, they say that God = love, and this love is a force before and beyond the material universe, just like I’ve read descriptions of the dark force in satanism as existing before and beyond the universe, an immaterial/supernatural/metaphysical force. It’s very similar to what Adi Shankara’s Brahman, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adi_Shankara, or Alan Watts’ Lila, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lila, as far as the impersonality of deities go.

However, I can understand why you wouldn’t like being connected to those you distance yourself by calling devil worshippers, and I see many positive ideas in satanism, but then again, I see positive things in many philosophies and most often I still dislike the totality of them.

Either way, was I right or wrong in my guess about Dominant Mass being this metaphysical dark energy?